"Soon you'll be out of here," she said. "Onto somewhere bigger and better if you have your way. I'm not sure I'm going to make it out of this at all, so what's it matter? Might as well live it up."

She rolled her eyes. She didn't really fear for her life, in any pressing way, but it was an easy thing to be sarcastic about and sarcasm felt like a strong defense.

"I'm sure you could if you tried," she replied cheerfully, "but interesting and safe are two different things."